Amari: Lies and Lamentations
by Suna-Scribbles
Summary: Part three of the Amari Chronicles. The remnants reunited again, but for how long? Liz holds back the truth, and the home is split in two. The trio need answers, but their sister rather not know the truth. And a forgotten past soon rises to haunt all.
1. Prologue

Koinu: Ohmygawd, I'm so sorry everyone! I can't believe I slacked off so much and didn't get this written! It's been what, half a year since Ive updated anything? I'm so, so sorry! As a few of you might know though, I like to write my fics completely before posting them, unlike some authors that will write a chapter then automatically post it. I don't like feeling pressured... But I thought I owed it to all my readers to actually post what I have so far. The third installment of The Amari Chronicles is going to be much longer than its two predecessors, so be ready for chapter numbers in the double digits, okay? Thanks for sticking with me everyone!

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_**The Amari Chronicles**_

_**Lies and Laments**_

_Prologue_

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"Liz-chan…?" 

_Something was wrong. The girl turned in a circle, yet saw nothing, no signs of life, no decorations on the barren walls. Not a thing. She could hear rain outside, pouring down on the roof, highlighted by thunder that followed invisible lightning. The hallway stretched on, every door open to show an empty room; barren, stark, inhospitable._

_Had there been a voice, calling out in the emptiness? The teen spun in another tight circle, mako colored eyes wide, the slitted pupils dilated to adjust to the gloom. She gulped, then gathered her breath. She shouted, calling her brother's names, but it sounded as if no words left her mouth._

_The thunder crashed again and for a moment Liz thought the ceiling was leaking. Why were her cheeks wet? _

"_No…" The silence was broken by her dispirited cry. She touched her cheek, feeling the liquid. As Liz pulled her hand away, her fingertips were stained with both the salty water of tears, and the coppery liquor of blood._

"Liz?"

_The girl shrieked, recoiling away from the sight of her own crimson claret. The sanguine fluid spattered the walls, contrasting with sharp clarity against the naked walls. She cried out again, clutching at her stomach as if in pain. For a moment the remnant girl imagined that something twitched beneath her hand, but then the feeling passed, drowned by her fearful despair._

"_Where did they all go…?" Another stab of pain, and the ground rushed up, smacking against her knees, causing Liz's visage to grimace for a half-second. "Where did everyone go…?"_

Then suddenly she was awake, her cheeks now stained solely with her tears and not her blood, and it was merely a calm night outside, the stars winking on the other side of her window. Loz was hovering over his youngest sibling, a worried frown on his face. His large hand was still positioned on her shoulder, though lightly. He had shaken her to bring Liz from the world of dreams, but she had looked so frail as she cried in her sleep; he had been afraid to break her.

"You were calling for us again…" Loz murmured quietly as he sat down on the edge of the bed. With his thumb he carefully, ever so carefully because his sister still seemed so fragile, wiped away the tears from her eyes. He sighed as he watched his sister calm herself down, choking down large gasps of air because of her need to fill her lungs.

This was the third time this month he had found her like this, sobbing in her sleep, crying out the names of her brothers. She was never loud enough to wake anyone, he was sure of that. The only reason he had been able to hear his sisters weeping was because he got up early every other day anyway to train on his own before it got too hot outside.

"I'm sorry…" Her voice was barely above a whisper as she spoke, her eyes closed in concentration as she attempted to vanquish the terrors of her dream. "I just had another bad dream, that's all…"

Loz's brow furrowed. "Another?" He questioned tenderly, not wanting to upset his sister further. Ever since she had come back to them, since she had finally woken from her coma-like sleep, she had been different. Her smiles seemed a little too forced, her laughter just a bit too easy to come by. She tried to make everyone happy, all the time. He was beginning to worry.

Liz's lip twitched in a half-hearted smile, the same one she seemed to give all the time now when she was tired. "I'm fine,_ Nii-san_, I promise." She yawned and then turned onto her side, her back to him, arms curled around her pillow. "I'll go back to sleep now, okay?"

Loz chuckled quietly and ruffled his sister's hair. "Okay." He stated as he stood once again. "No more bad dreams, okay?" he waited for Liz's tired nod of confirmation before smiling and turning to leave. "Sleep well, _Imoto-chan_."

As the door closed Liz buried her face in her pillow, hiding the tears of despair that escaped her eyes once again.

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Koinu: Have I ever mentioned how much I love Loz? Heh. Yeah, I really like him in this. Oh, and my writing style has changed a bit, but thats cause I'm getting better, right? 

Just so everyone knows, my parents don't approve of my writing fanfiction. Why? you might ask. Well, because I've entered a few writing competitions for my poetry and my short stories, and I win every time, so yeah... they say I should spend my time writing a novel instead of this stuff. Pfft! Yeah right! How could I leave you guys hanging like that?!

As always, please review! It is greatly appreciated!


	2. Chapter One: Tranquility

Koinu-chan: OhMiGosh! I'm sooooooo sorry for the delay. I like... died. No, thats not it, I just got really, really lazy. I'm still having trouble writing some of this, but I think I can work through it once I get some reviews and stuff like that. So sorry for the wait, everyone!

_**The Amari Chronicles**_

_**Lies and Laments**_

_Chapter One_

"Eggs again?" Disgruntled annoyance laced through the speaker's voice as he flopped onto a stool at the bar in the kitchen. Silver hair, mussed from sleep, hid all but the males left eye, which darted to his elder, glaring at the carton of eggs sitting innocently upon the counter at his brothers side.

Yazoo glanced over at Kadaj, meeting his brother's gaze for a moment before smirking and looking away. The middle brother chuckled silently, turning back to the scrambled eggs he was making as he did so. "Kadaj…" his voice was slow, patient, graceful even, "the last time we had eggs was a week ago, and those were poached eggs… you really can't complain." The sentence was punctuated by another small laugh.

The younger glared at his brother, a tired growl rising in the back of his throat. "Shut it, baka-Yazoo." He muttered as he rested his chin in his hand, his other un-gloved appendage running through his hair, disentangling it. It was morning; there wasn't yet a reason for him to get in his standard guise of leather, which explained the loose gray sweatpants he wore and his shirtless-ness.

Another bit of quiet laughter escaped Yazoo, but he followed his younger sibling's command and stayed silent. It wasn't wise to rile Kadaj this early in the morning. The back door slammed shut just as Yazoo was sliding the first spatula-full of eggs onto a plate. Without looking, he slid the platter over to Loz's usual spot at the table, ignoring Kadaj's low string of curse words.

"Don't worry, I'll feed you." As he spoke, Yazoo slid a plate over to Kadaj as well. The youngest of the brothers gave a small "thanks" in reply, but that was it.

"Hey look, eggs!" Loz, already wide-awake, smiled broadly and settled himself down onto a stool. "Thanks, Yaz." He had barely finished speaking before he dug into his breakfast, consuming half of it in a matter of seconds. Yazoo nodded in a silent reply.

"Morning everyone…" The greeting came out as a yawn as Liz entered the room. Hair a ruffled mess, eyes still blurry with sleep, it was quiet obvious that the girl hadn't gotten much rest.

Loz frowned lightly over at his youngest sibling, an action that went unnoticed by his other two brothers. Liz never mentioned it when she suffered from those evil dreams of hers, and the eldest brother wasn't about to mention it without her explicit permission.

"Eggs?" Yazoo gave the sister a soft smile as she took a seat at the counter. Liz nodded before laying her head down on the tiled surface, savoring how cool it felt against her cheek. She yawned once again, then nuzzled against her arms, using them as a pillow.

Kadaj chuckled slightly at seeing Liz so out of it. She was usually so energetic in the mornings, this was a good change, in his mind at least. He couldn't place why, but there was just something about his sister that got to him, made him angry with her for no reason. If he really concentrated, that thing, that aura around his sister that caused his fury, it reminded him of Sephiroth. The remnant clenched his teeth, irritated by simply thinking about that so-called One Winged Angel.

Yazoo rubbed his sister's head as he placed her breakfast before her. "Come on, Imoto-chan, time to wake up. Sleeping is for bed, not the table." He chuckled slightly as Liz groaned and sat up, propping her head up with one hand as she gazed listlessly at her brother.

"Very funny…" The remnant girl muttered as she stabbed at her eggs, although there was a laugh half hinted behind her voice now that she was finally waking up. She noticed Loz smiling slightly out of the corner in her eye and grinned delicately in response.

Kadaj rolled his eyes and pushed his empty plate towards the sink. "I'm done. I'll be outside training if you need me."

And that's how the days passed usually. The four would eat together, then two or three would disappear outside to train while the remaining siblings lingered inside to entertain themselves. The family would only come together again at diner time, and occasionally at lunch, but it was rare to see the four of them together if there was no purpose behind the gathering.

Usually it would be Kadaj and Loz that would go outside to train. Yazoo, then, would retreat into his room and delve into one of his books. That would leave Liz to try and figure out what to do with her day. Usually she would withdraw into her own room, take up her pencils and sketch book, and just lose herself in her drawings for hours on end. Her photographic memory allowed her to follow her newfound gift for art.

A month passed in this manner. A month of relative peace. But not even such an easily created tranquility could last for long. Their time was like a fuse; one that was burning shorter every day.

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Koinu-chan: is it jut me, or does this chapter seem short... maybe its just my new laptop... Woot, new laptop. Now I gotta trasfer all my writing onto this thing... gah. It'll take so long...

Please review, as always.


	3. Chapter Two: Silence

Koinu-chan: So, how long has it been since I last updated? I'm thinking... almost a year. I'm really sorry, guys, but its my lasst year of highschool and I just don't have the time or mindset (or anyone getting on my case enough) to write any of this. I usually like to have the whole story written before I start posting chapters, but now I'll just post as I go, with a bit of a buffer (I have a few chapters written).

Sorry for the mega delays, everyone.

_**The Amari Chronicles**_

_**Lies and Laments**_

_Chapter One_

_

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_

_Pain._

For a month she had lived with this secret. For a whole month she had hidden it behind fake smiles and reassurances. For a month she lied through her teeth and said she was fine.

_Up her back, along her arms, following that familiar, blackened trail: it was fire in her veins._

She had heard the whispers, joyous words that escaped smiling mouths. While she had been suspended in her month-long sleep, her dreaming coma, she had been cured. There had never been a sign of it upon her body. But now…

_Knees struck the ground as an agonized gasp left her, eyes closing as she willed the tears to stay back and the pain to cease._

But now it had returned. She didn't dare say anything to the world. She had already caused enough trouble, made too many people worry for her. Why cause their worry to increase. That wouldn't be fair of her.

_Her hands grasped at her shoulders where the pain seemed to be the most vivid, fingernails dug into the skin, seeking relief and continuing to tear away at the infected flesh even as they were turned that dreadful shade of black._

For a month now Liz had lived with her geostigma, and still, to this day, no one was the wiser.

* * *

_You need to tell them…_

Liz groaned and pushed herself off the hard wood floor of her room. "Another attack…" She muttered to herself. Her head spun for a moment, reeling from the sudden shift in altitude. The remnant girl frowned as the feeling passed, then caught sight of her hands. Another groan escaped her.

Her hands were coated with a thin layer of black viscous liquid, the undersides of her fingernails an even more opaque shade. There were spots tainted with crimson blood as well. A shudder ran down her spine.

Liz grunted and stood up, taking a red pen and putting a small mark on her calendar. Eyes narrowed for a second, then widened as she studied it. Her attacks were coming more often now… that wasn't good.

Sighing drearily, the female peeled her stained cloths off of her body and threw them into the hamper in her closet. She then looked from the clothes on her hangers to her bathrobe lying in a pile on the floor. Her eyes dimmed for a moment as she contemplated what to do next, but then returned to normal.

Scooping up the bathrobe and wrapping it around herself, Liz quickly darted out of her own room and into the bathroom down the hall. She locked the door behind herself, then turned the shower on hot.

She spent maybe a half-hour in the shower, interchanging between soaking and lathering herself with enough soap to fill the tub with suds after she rinsed off. But after that amount of time had passed she was finally able to tear herself away from the warm water and pull her bathrobe back on.

"Bout time."

Liz gasped and recoiled away from Kadaj. She had just been exitting the bathroom, and when she had opened the door, he had been right there, as if waiting for her.

It took a moment for the younger remnant to come up with something to say to her slightly elder brother. "Jeez, Kadaj, you almost gave me a heart attack! You really do hate me, don't you?" She snapped after a too-long pause. Her words came out sharper and with more of a harsh edge than she had anticipated, but Liz made no move to right herself.

Kadaj frowned, a low, angry sound of warning coming from him as he shoved Liz out of the way so he could make use of the bathroom. "Just get out of here so the rest of us can use it." He barked before slamming the door shut.

"Fuck you." Liz flipped her brother the bird from behind the door before retreating to her own room to throw on her usual attire of a high-necked and long-sleeved shirt and a pair of pants. Thank Shiva it was winter, else the remnant girl would have died of heat exhaustion.

"I don't know why he has to be such a dick…" Liz muttered as she flopped down onto the couch in the main room, a thick book in one hand, her sketchpad in the other. Yazoo looked up from his own reading, but did not say anything to the girl that had seated herself on the other end of the couch from him. It wasn't unlike Liz to seek out the company of her brothers; she seemed almost addicted to simply being in the same room as one of them.

"How's the book?" He asked, knowing the question would be a distraction. Liz took the bait without even realizing it.

"Horrid." She said as she looked up at Yazoo. "I can't see how you were able to put up with this. I swear… Pearl is the only entertaining character in the whole book… If I never see the letter 'A' again, it will be too soon."

Yazoo chuckled slightly. There, that was better. His sister was much easier to get along with when she was acting like her usual self.

There was a long silence between them, seconds flying past with ease. The middle brother finally noticed that Liz had let her book fall to her lap and was staring off into space with a dreamy look on her face.

"Liz…?" Yazoo's voice was gentle, but when his younger sister didn't respond, he reached over and lightly touched her on the shoulder. That got her attention, though she didn't jump as he had expected. Instead, Liz just merely looked at Yazoo, eyes still slightly vacant.

"How long has it been…?" She asked slowly. "How long since… since we were allowed to live again…?"

Yazoo paused, unprepared for that sort of question. He was able to conjure the answer within seconds though, his keep mind working swiftly. "About four months." He responded quickly. "Why do you ask?" His voice was smooth and lilting as always, but with that half-veiled undertone of curiosity that crept into it whenever Liz managed to take him by surprise.

Liz shook her head, seeming to come out of her daze. She smiled as her eyes cleared, going back to their usual bright green and blue hue. "Four months…" She repeated. "I guess, for me… it's only been three… well one, if you don't count my coma." Her sentence was exclamated by a short laugh of sudden humor. "One month… so much has changed…"

"Yes," Yazoo nodded in agreement, eyes sparking with a knowing light, "much has changed, but some things never go away."

Liz looked sharply at her brother. He was smirking lightly, the expression half hidden behind his hair, longer now than it had ever been. She felt her stomach churn as the color drained from her already pale and near-sickly face.

He knew.

_

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_

Koinu-chan: So yeah... no closing words for once. I really don't know what to say other than sorry for being late.

Please review, as always.


	4. Chapter Three: Nightmare

Koinu: Alright, first things first. I don't know if I'm going to keep calling myself Koinu, because for the last few years, since before The Amarimono came out, my friends have been calling me Liz.

Second- This chapter is dedicated to CHIBI-CRAZY for motivating me to at least UPDATE even if I don't have the whole story written out. It is also, slightly, dedicated to my boyfriend, whose OC may appear if I can steal him for a bit.

Third- I am very, very sorry for not update. To be honest, I haven't been writing in a while. At least, I haven't been writing anything for this fanfic. I've been doing a lot of poetry and a lot of origial fiction and a lot of crossovers with my BF. (If you really must know, I upgraded Liz and then put her in the Zoids universe for a few oneshot bits of writing.)

I am a senior in high school now, and I will be graduating on May 28th. This last year has been very stressful for me- I failed Pre Calculus last year and had to retake it; I broke up with my boyfriend last summer, then got back together with him (thank god); I tried to write a novel for NANOWRIMO; I entered a contest with some of my origial work and then never heard back from the contest; and my dog died- okay, so that one isn't true, but I had to end with something cliche. I know I can't make excuses for neglecting this fanfiction, and I'm sorry, so very, very sorry for now writing and letting all of my watchers down. Please forgive me.

After a long, long wait, here it is- the third chapter of Lies and Lamentations.

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_**The Amari Chronicles**_

_**Lies and Lamentations**_

Chapter Three

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"You need to tell them…"

The remnant cursed as she awoke, her immediate reaction an attempt to push herself up off of the ground, only to have her brother's hand restrain her. Eyes closing in defeat, she allowed herself to collapse against the floor once again.

"That's the third one this week." Yazoo intoned as he absently stroked Liz's head, trying to sooth the aggrieved girl. "It's getting worse."

Liz growled, but only to hide her whimper of sadness at the truth of her brother's words. "I didn't pass out the other times…" She muttered in a half-hearted defense of herself and her decision. "This… this was the first time…" She gulped and reminded herself that she had made up her mind already: She was going to keep Kadaj and Loz in the dark, not letting them know of her geostigma.

Yazoo exhaled quietly and watched with disappointed eyes as Liz forced herself to sit up. She was panting, that strained look of pain not leaving her quite yet. Couldn't she see how she was wasting away, how her body was slowly weakening? Was she blind to how her very being and essence, her spirit, was becoming lackluster?

"Liz-chan…" Yazoo's hand snaked out, causing his sister to gasp in surprise as he took hold of her chin and forced her to look at him. His usually apathetic features turned stern, but Liz could tell that he was scared too; scared for her.

"Liz, you need to tell them." Yazoo intoned gravely. "Kadaj and Loz, they have every right to know. You cannot hide something like this from them. Liz…" He sighed as he saw the tears welling up in her eyes, threatening to fall over, to ruin her once beautiful face.

The younger of the two siblings made no move to pull away from her brother's delicate grasp. She merely closed her eyes and sobbed once before calming herself. "I… I can't." Liz protested. "You all worry about me so much already, it wouldn't be fair…"

"You and I both know that you're lying, Liz." Yazoo said, suddenly fierce. His eyes blazed with frustration and a tinge of his ever so rare anger. "What are you so afraid of? Liz…" Gentler now, he leaned slightly forward, coaxing Liz to look at him once again, "Liz… please, tell me."

For a moment Yazoo thought that his sister meant not to speak, what with the way she clenched her teeth and screwed her eyes shut. A tear or two were forced over the edge and silently ran down her cheeks, only to be swept away by the male remnant's thumb.

"It's Kadaj… he…" Liz gulped in a breath before turning her eyes, glistening now with a multitude of unshed tears, pent up for so long behind her lids, "he frightens me. Yazoo, you're closest to him, will you tell me why he seems to hate me so much?" She was begging, pleading, her need to know evident in the way she gazed at her elder brother. She seemed so confused and utterly terrified; Yazoo almost recoiled as he felt a wave of emotional pain tear through him.

Tenderly, Yazoo reached out and stroked the side of his little sister's face, from her temple to her jawbone. "He says that he feels and sees something within you that sets him off." He said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper now. He had once promised Kadaj that he would not tell anyone. "It's Sephiroth he feels, and no matter how hard he tries, he cannot ignore it. He still loves you, Liz… we all love you, don't forget that."

Liz nodded in understanding, and Yazoo smiled. Standing, he bid her goodbye and suggested that she get some rest; it was getting late after all. Liz nodded again, silently, and waited for her door to close behind her brother before moving off of the ground.

"Sephiroth, eh…?" She asked softly, voice unnaturally calm after her small emotional breakdown. "He sees Sephiroth within me, does he…?" Slowly, cautiously, the remnant girl got to her feet and paced the length of her room before going to stand at her window.

The view she laid eyes upon wasn't much, merely the flat, barren plains. From the other side of the house one could look upon the backside of Edge. The building's location was what had brought the Remnant's to it; not too far from the city, yet far enough that they would be left alone, forgotten even, allowed to live out their lives in relative peace.

A red hue was cast upon the wreckage by the setting sun. For a moment everything seemed to be drenched in blood and darkness. The sun's disappearance below the horizon, however, stole the morbid color from the walls, leaving shadows where light once fell.

That night, following hours of lying awake, suspended in a thoughtless trance, Liz finally drifted off to sleep. That night, she thought of something other than her stigma. That night, she dreamed a very different dream.

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Koinu: And there it is, chapter three. I hope you all enjoyed. Please comment.


	5. Chapter Four: Black

Koinu: Shorter wait for this chapter. Hope you all enjoy it.

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_**The Amari Chronicles**_

_**Lies and Lamentations**_

Chapter Four

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This was something different.

A voice.

Calm.

Gentle.

Controlling.

This thing wanted something from her. It pushed against her, trying to influence her.

But then it was gone, flitting away easily, hiding itself once again.

Liz awoke; feeling more rested than she had in many days. The blinds were drawn closed: Odd, she had left them open last night, though something told her that it wasn't yet day. It was dark in her room and it took her eyes a few moments to finally adjust to the gloom.

"He told you why, didn't he?"

Liz jumped. A trill of fear ran through her as she sat up suddenly, searching for the speaker. It was Kadaj, undoubtedly; if it had been Loz or Yazoo she wouldn't have reacted in such a way.

"Kadaj? What the hell?!" She yelled, but her voice trembled, revealing her terror. "What are you doing in here?"

A movement in the corner alerted her to her brother's location. His eyes were downcast, refusing to look at her.

"Well? Say something, _baka_. What are you doing in my room? I thought you hated me." The last part wasn't a question. The younger of the siblings got to her feet and reached over to her bedside table, fingers seeking her sai. They weren't there though, and in the moment it took her too glance up questioningly at her brother she found her back against the wall.

Startled, she cried out, but his thumb found the base of her throat and pushed, not really cutting off her air, but letting her know she should be silent. He had one hand around her neck, while the other pushed against her shoulder. "Quiet now…" Kadaj said in a low voice as he moved his thumb away, letting his little sister finally breath without the weight of him against her. "Don't wake the others…And I don't hate you, _Imoto-chan_… at least, I try not to."

"Kadaj, what are you-" Liz began strong, voice angry, but she stopped suddenly. Her brother… he was shaking…? "_Nii-san_…?" She asked, letting herself relax under him. Now that she wasn't struggling, she could feel it; Kadaj was trembling.

"Liz, I want you to do me a favor…" Kadaj leaned forward, letting his forehead drop onto his sister's shoulder for a moment, as if he were resting. Liz felt herself stiffen again at the sudden, unexpected contact; Kadaj was never this tender anymore. He had been, right after she awoke, but not anymore.

"Liz," Kadaj paused again, taking a breath as he raised his head from his sister's shoulder and straightened himself slightly, so that he could gaze down at her, "I want you to hate me. Hate me all you want, I don't care, but Liz; please… please don't fear me. I don't think I can stand it if you did; it would kill me."

Liz, stunned for a moment, didn't know how to react to her brother's words. Her nerves were already worn raw, and this news made a painful jolt run though her, and this time the pain didn't fade. But Liz was too focused on her brother to notice the slight tingling along her arms and back.

Slowly, she raised her arms to give Kadaj a reassuring hug, but he had already moved away, as if he had read her thoughts and wished to avoid more painful confrontations. His eyes, just like all the remnants, were glowing slightly in the dark, a bright, but sad swirl of green and blue around a black, cat-like pupil. Liz tried to meet his gaze, but he refused to make eye contact.

"Just thought you should know." Kadaj muttered before turning his back on Liz, leaving her, perplexed and unsure.

"_Nii-san_, wait-!" A gasp and a groan of pain escaped her as the second stage of her geostigma attack washed over her, stabbing though her infected flesh like multitudes of hot needles. She faulted, falling back, using the wall for support as she fought to keep herself standing. Teeth gritted against the pain; the remnant girl was startled when she found Kadaj back at her side, helping to support her. Her eyes fell closed and she could see the worry and, even more so, the confusion coursing though his aura.

"Liz, what's wrong?" Kadaj was born a leader, but he was learning to be a brother, and the statement was a mix of a command and a concerned question. His face was pulled into a frown as Liz pushed him away roughly, though weakly.

The lie fell from her without Liz even needing to conjure it up. "It's nothing, just a head rush… you should get to bed, it's l-late." Her last word was cut in half by another agonized gasp, and for a moment she had to fight to stay conscious.

Kadaj growled. "No its not." He stated firmly as he moved to support his sister again, putting her arm over his shoulders as he wrapped one of his arms around her waist. "Now tell me what's really wrong." He felt the girl stagger slightly, then go limp, allowing him to help her the short distance back to her bed. He had her so close, just a step away, when he realized something was wrong; his sister's breath was coming much too quickly, her pulse, which he could feel beating through her veins, too irregular. "Liz?" Worry, then confusion when no response was given, flared up in the remnant. "Liz?!" Dread sparked in Kadaj's mako colored eyes, the pupils becoming slits as fearful adrenaline rushed through him. He suddenly was holding his sister in his arms, with her collapsed against him, and he didn't have any idea as to why. He shook her after getting her the last pace to her bed and setting her down, his efforts a vain try to bring her back; she didn't stir. Fear, once again, but this time more simple and instinctual, took over the young male at that moment, and he panicked.

"Yazoo! Loz! Somebody!" He cried as he fell to his knees at his sister's bedside, while Liz still lay on her bed, withering and moaning, and sweating in pain. Her eyes flickered about behind their lids, as if she were fighting to wake up.

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Koinu: Please comment. In retrospect, I don't like this chapter... but eh...


	6. Chapter Five: Sickness

Koinu: An on-time update, but the chapter is UBER short. Sorry. I wrote 2.5 chapters over the weekend while I was on vacation, so I think I'll update tomorrow too.

* * *

_**The Amari Chronicles**_

_**Lies and Lamentations**_

Chapter Five

* * *

Loz, always the fastest on his feet, arrived first, but Yazoo, calm and responsive as ever, was right on the eldest's heals. One of them flicked the overhead light on, Kadaj couldn't make out which, but the sudden brightness did nothing to alter Liz's state, and only revealed just how much the youngest brother's shoulders were shaking.

Kadaj looked again to his sister as he heard Yazoo curse under his breath. "What's wrong with her, Yaz…?" He asked quietly, sounding more subdued that either of his brothers could remember him being in the past. The youngest watched with distant eyes as Yazoo ripped first one sleeve, then the other, of Liz's nightwear off. Why? Kadaj asked himself, why did she wear such cloths to bed? Why the long sleeves and high necks, and pants that were three sizes too big for her? Maybe he didn't want to know.

And he really didn't. When Kadaj saw those bandages on his sister's arms, black liquid seeping between them and turning the rest sickeningly dark, his stomach turned over and his heart dropped.

* * *

The night had been so peaceful, as always. Loz, as was usual for him, had crashed on the couch after dinner to get some rest; only to roused hours later by Yazoo and told to get to his own room to sleep.

It was the same as almost every other night.

But this time it was different. The oldest of the brother's had just stripped off his jacket and undershirt when he heard Kadaj's frantic cry. At first perplexed, Loz had been slower than usual to react, but he still beat his younger, Yazoo, to the source of their little brother's scream.

What he saw when his hand found the light switch made his heart leap into his throat. Liz was his littlest sibling, their little sister, the one female that could ever fill that emptiness inside of them that was left when Jenova was finally gone… Loz felt that hole inside of him, big, gaping, needing- he could feel it opening up again as he watched Yazoo respond to their pained sibling.

At first, when he saw her on the bed, he had thought she was merely being attacked by another of her nightmares. But then, when he saw the pain in her face, the way she writhed as if being attacked from all angles, he had known it wasn't a dream. Not even one of Liz's nightmares could make her look as broken as she seemed now.

And the eldest of the brothers, in response to that tearing feeling in his chest, the one that he knew all too well as grief, found himself praying to the one person he knew would listen at that time, even if she did have a field of flowers and the rest of the Life-Stream to tend to.

"Oh Aerith… please don't take our sister from us… we need her…"

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Koinu: Again, I apologize for the uber shortness... I wasn't feeling this chapter. Kinda filler... maybe. Comment please. Hojo asked me why Loz is talking to Aerith. Honestly, I don't know. It just felt right, since they met in the lifestream and everything... so yeah.


	7. Chapter Six: Tell

Koinu: So I said I would update twice in one week to make up for short chapters, but this one is really short too. TWF is with these short chapters?! ... I wrote all this stuff like a year ago... cause I'm lazy like that. And I like having huge buffers. I hope you enjoy.

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_**The Amari Chronicles**_

_**Lies and Lamentations**_

Chapter Six

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Yazoo was scared, dead scared. It was a wonder his hands weren't trembling even now as he tore the sleeves away from his sister's shirt, showing the bandages underneath. He didn't stop with her sleeves though as his nimble hands ripped away the rest of her top. That was where he stopped though, finally moving away as he heard Kadaj give another small cry of despair.

Bandages, once crisp and white, applied by Yazoo's own hand, covered Liz's upper body almost entirely. Those bandages though, once so pristine, were now tarnished, turned horrid shades of black and gray by the stigma that his sister carried, the disease that plagued her at this moment.

"Why didn't she tell us…?" Kadaj asked as he looked at his sister. She was still writhing in pain, though she was breathing a bit easier now.

"Liz-chan…" Loz whimpered and pressed his thumb and forefinger to his eyes, holding back tears.

Yazoo tore off one of his gloves with his teeth, throwing the leather item to the ground without much care. After that, his actions were gentle again, especially as he laid the back of his hand against Liz's forehead. "She's burning up…" He mused, as if he were talking only to himself. "Loz, go get some ice and a towel soaked in cold water. Kadaj, go get some new bandages and a washrag… and some tea, for when she wakes up…"

Kadaj snatched Yazoo's wrist as the elder of the two brought his hand away from Liz's head. "Yaz… tell me why. Tell me why she didn't let us know!" He nearly growled through his teeth. "Tell me, now."

"Ototo-chan…" Loz made to pull his youngest brother away, but Yazoo waved him off. The eldest, slightly bemused, paused, waiting for the explanation that the middle brother was evidently about to give.

"She did not want you worrying about her any more than you already did." Yazoo said smoothly as he pulled out of his younger brother's grasp. "She didn't think it would be fair to let you know that she was still plagued by the stigma. I did not agree with her decision, but I knew why she made it, and kept to myself… She didn't want any of us knowing, and it is only by chance that I found out."

Kadaj made a strange sound in response to Yazoo's words, something between a growl and a whimper. Still shaking slightly, he turned around, remembering the task his brother had asked of him. "She should have told us…" He muttered.

"I know, Kadaj…" Yazoo responded with a heavy sigh. "Believe me, I know…"

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Koinu: Sorry for more shortness. I didn't want to write Liz, obviously... xD


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